1. Field of the Invention
This invention is related in general to the fields of carpentry tools and their accessories. In particular, the invention provides a T-square attachment designed for use with a standard tape measure to assist in the framing of conventional stud walls and in similar construction applications.
2. Description of the Prior Art
People have been framing walls for a long time by assembling the various pieces of lumber on the ground and then raising the structure so formed to tie into similarly assembled adjacent portions in an upright position. In the process of framing a wall, carpenters typically start by laying two identical pieces of construction grade lumber (corresponding to the top and bottom plate of the wall) flat against each other on a plain surface and then marking each piece at the points corresponding to the desired locations for the studs to be installed between them. Marking the top and bottom plate normally involves the use of a conventional retractable tape measure hooked over the end of one of the plates and extended over its length. Marks are made along that plate at measured distances from the end and are then transferred to the other plate with the help of a square or even by naked eye approximation. In either case, usually only one mark is made on each plate for every stud location. Thus, when the plates are separated and the studs are actually fastened between them, the carpenter has no indication of whether each mark corresponds to the correct location for the right, left or center of the stud. As a result, studs are often fastened inconsistently (typically on either side of the marks) and therefore become difficult to find after they are covered with sheathing. In fact, even when the studs are installed uniformly (that is, all on the same side of the marks), they are not in the precise planned location because of the offset resulting from the arbitrary choice made by placing each stud either on the right or the left of the marks on the plates, rather than along their centerline. The resulting difficulty in locating the studs behind a wall is all too familiar to anyone who has needed to find a strong support to anchor a heavy weight on a plasterboard wall.
One way to correct this problem would be to carefully plan the sequence of steps to insure that the centerline of each stud is perfectly lined up with its desired location. For example, if the studs were to be spaced 16 inches apart, marks would be made on both the top and bottom plate every 16 inches from the centerline of the first stud, repeated throughout the length of each plate. Then, each stud would be positioned and fastened so that its centerline coincides with corresponding marks on the plates, resulting in a sequence of studs exactly 16 inches apart from one another, which could then be easily located by precise measurement after the wall is completed.
In practice, though, this exact procedure is not followed and locating studs after the wall is finished remains a recurring problem. Therefore, there exists a need for a simple tool that can be used to improve the method of marking the top and bottom plates during construction to insure that the studs are located where planned.